Best of the ISP-Lists

Solving Those Upstream Issues

We see various RBOC problems crop up regularly on our ISP-Lists. These are not easy to solve, but the responses to this particular post were so useful they're timeless advice.

[September 4, 2007]

On the ISP-Tech list in February, HH asked:

We had one of our downstream local loops go down on a Saturday early afternoon. We immediately opened a ticket with AT&T (CA) to repair it. We were told that no one was available to fix in until the next day unless we paid $400. We were not willing to shell out $400 for them to do their job. We escalated to management to no avail so we waited until the next day. They then told us it was a cable issue and cable maintenance had to be called in. They again said no one was available and again tried to make us pay additional monies. We escalated to managed again but with no success. The circuit was finally repaired on Monday around noon. The circuit was down for almost 48 hours.

Does anyone know the specifics of any CPUC rules/tariffs regarding the requirement of AT&T/SBC on repairing hicap circuits?

We've always assumed 4 hrs to respond onsite and start repair but our acct rep (brand new) tells us that the 4 hours is just the mttr and they can take as long as they want and they can charge us to escalate repairs.

I need some documentation to throw back at them but can't find any specifics. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

[KB advised] "Don't assume. Read your contract. We routinely have a DS1 circuit go down from AT&T that crosses lata lines. It is always the fault of the pathetic ma and pay telco (State Long Distance) ... I really don't want to name them.. anyway, if it goes out on a Friday after 5PM, it is not getting fixed until Monday morning because (I don't want to mention names) SLD is CLOSED on the weekends.

Anyway I would look at your contract to see what your SLA included. That is the best documentation you can use!"

[BN added] "You might also try contacting the state PUC for assistance; that is(in theory) what they are there for. . . PUCs vary quite a bit from state to state. Some are worthless; others, less so."

[SS concluded] "In general, whether for business or residential problems, the state PUC is a good place to escalate to. I just suggested to a friend to do it to Verizon because they were screwing around with the installation of phones to his new house. It is new construction, but they already had the wiring done to the front of the lot and just needed to wire from the pedestal at the front of the lot to the house, and they needed to install the network box at the house. They were telling him the wiring needed to be laid to the pedestal, and supposedly an engineer was going to follow up, etc., etc. So I told him to complain to CPUC, and he did, and magically, THAT DAY, Verizon decided to finish the job—even though they'd previously said it could be another three weeks before he had phones.

I had issues with SBC refusing to refund me more than $5 for two months worth of lost dialtone and DSL at my old house in Ohio... because I *had* dialtone (never mind that there was a bridge tap on my line that generated so much static that I couldn't make voice calls, let alone use the DSL). They were trying to collect on almost $200 worth of services they never provided. Filed a complaint online with PUCO. Within a few days a wonderful lady who worked in the department that handles SBC complaints was on my case.

Say what you will about government employees. The PUCs seem to be (at least somewhat!) on the ball. :) CPUC seems to do a decent job.

— End

For a snarky comment on evaluating your upstream carrier, see the middle related article below: